Clapping to the rhythm of traditional Afghan music, women in vibrant dresses dance in a circle as children run around interacting with volunteers, playing games and making arts and crafts.
To mark the end of Ramadan, Cville Tulips traded its typical educational programming for something more celebratory — an Eid gathering full of dancing, joy and community. The joyful scene captured the organization's true mission of creating a space where local refugee women and their children feel seen, supported and empowered.
Named after the vibrant red tulip fields of Afghanistan, Cville Tulips draws inspiration from a flower that represents the enduring resilience of women across the Middle East. As Afghanistan’s national flower, the tulips’ unique ability to bloom in harsh conditions reflects the enduring spirit of Afghan women who have overcome adversity. Celebrated during Nowruz, the Afghan New year, the red tulips also mark new beginnings — making them a fitting emblem for perseverant refugee women rebuilding their lives.
Founded in 2022, the student- and faculty-run organization partners with Madison House, the International Rescue Committee and other organizations. These institutions work together with Cville Tulips to support newly arrived women and families in Charlottesville — predominantly from Afghanistan and Syria — and equip them with the proper education and support resources that allow them to thrive.
Since its founding, Cville Tulips has grown into a city-wide community effort. Every Sunday, students and community members volunteer with Cville Tulips at the Peabody School in Mill Creek, offering five different levels of English classes, culturally-sensitive health education and community-building activities for refugee women. Volunteers also offer childcare for the mothers while they attend class.
Second-year Engineering student Zahra Arshadi, who serves on the executive team as a multimedia director, said that the idea for Cville Tulips emerged when co-founder Bonnie Gordon and Marjan Omranian, co-director and Class of 2024 alumna, met Afghan families on a bus and began speaking with them about their struggles adjusting to life in the U.S.
“They feel isolated because when immigrant families come to the United States … all of [these] resettlement agencies [really] focus on the men in the family, [getting] them to work, and the kids getting admitted to school,” Arshadi said. “But there's a gap where the woman gets left out and there isn't anything for them.”
Born and raised in Kabul, Arshadi moved to the U.S. herself in 2021, just months before the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. She said her journey to the U.S. was fueled by a deep desire for education. Now at the University, Arshadi channels her experience into helping other Afghan women navigate the difficult transition she remembers too well.
Arshadi said that the literacy sessions are quite empowering, especially as it gives participating mothers a moment to prioritize themselves in the midst of caring for their families.
“It gives the woman a space to not worry about their kids, not be a mother for just a little bit and focus on themselves,” Arshadi said.
Like Arshadi, second-year Arts and Sciences student Sophia Qamari is also Afghan. As an English Language Assistant, she helps lead Cville Tulips’s English curriculum and social programming. Each week, Qamari works with volunteers to teach English classes tailored to various skill levels, many focused on practical conversation and vocabulary.
For the Afghan women who speak the Dari dialect of Farsi and the Syrian women who speak Arabic, Qamari said it is rewarding to watch them slowly become more confident in their English abilities.
“Seeing it click, and seeing them open their eyes — that, you know, ‘I can do this. I haven't been to school in so long, and I'm coming to [a] country where I don't know anything,’ — [it is] never going to get old,” Qamari said.
Arshadi shared that many of the women that are enrolled in the Cville Tulips classes have not been in a classroom environment since the 6th grade, so this education is exceptionally empowering.
“They can't read or write in Farsi, so [English] is the first language they learn to speak, write and read, which is such a big deal,” Arshadi said. “We have a lot of students, and it's just really meaningful work.”
While the classes help refugee women connect with one another and find passion in learning, the classes also end up giving volunteers a similar sense of belonging, according to Qamari. Though not all volunteers are Afghan, she said that volunteering with Cville Tulips has specifically brought her closer to a tight-knit community of local Afghans.
“When I came [to U.Va.], I was struggling to find a community, because there's really not that many Afghans that are U.Va. students,” Qamari said. “There's a very small population of us, so finding that sense of community, I really found it in these women.”
Arshadi echoed Qamari’s sentiment, saying that Cville Tulips was one of the first organizations she joined so she could find a community that would remind her of her family.
“All the time, it makes me emotional when it comes to [the women] talking about stuff,” Arshadi said. “I just remember my mother, and the stories are really much similar. The struggles are similar. [So] everything is emotional to me.”
Despite the ways in which Cville Tulips fosters joy and connection, Arshadi said that refugee families still face vast resettlement challenges, especially in that women are often left out of formal support systems.
“We can’t do everything, and hearing their struggles with a lot of different things, it always makes me question how we serve immigrant families, especially immigrant women," Arshadi said.
Nonetheless, Cville Tulips has created a space where these women can focus on themselves and find a sense of home while navigating a difficult transition. For Qamari, the most rewarding part of this work is seeing how small gestures — like helping a woman write a grocery list in English or celebrating Afghan culture through dance and crafts — can spark confidence, forge bonds and kindle profound joy.
"I know that I'll never know what they've been through, but [with the] empathy that I have for them, I'll always want to help them in any way that I can,” Qamari said. “I think [that] is probably the most rewarding thing."
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